Curtains comes down for Miltary Games

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Published: Monday, October 22, 2007, 10:56 [IST]

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Hyderabad, Oct 22; : Music took the center stage again with the ever exuberant film and television personality Raageshwari Loomba giving the crowd an electrifying experience with her Dum Ma Dum Mast Kalandar song which was followed by a fusion spectacle of Bollywood music, classical to western, jazz to rap and bhangra to salsa, brilliantly choreographed by Al of Al-Mel team, the winners of 'Nach Baliye's premier season through young girls from St Anns School.

Another powerpacked performance, this time by Bollywood actress and contemporary dancer Isha Sharwani, brought the audience to deafening reception by her blend of physical enduring balancing act along with martial arts expressed through her performances.

But, the performance that literally rocked the evening was the Samba dance by the ''Queens of Brasil'' which by its showcasing of Rio Carnival seemed the stage like a street of Rio. Their titillation and dancing in rhythm brought the youngsters among the crowd to ecstasy with the glimpse of the lively culture of Brazil.

Andhra Pradesh had also its share of showcasing its cultural heritage with performances by folk artists from the rural areas.

Kommu Koya of the hunting class, Dappulu a dnace with simple percussion instruments, Chekkabommalata puppet dance in which wooden puppets are manipulated by performers behind the stage, Dolla Vinyasam and Tiger dance all displayed the rich and diverse culture of the state.

Percussionist Sivamani who had worked with composers including AR Rehman and Ilayaraja in films like Rang de Basanti, Taal, Roja, Lagaan, Dil Se and Guru-- brought the evening to a close after nearly four hour spectacle with his soulful performance along with his 11 drummers.

The Games, though criticised for lack of public participation in the various venues, had though seen high quality of competition and at least 20 CISM records were broken along with the setting of a new world record by swimmer Yang Li of Chin in 50m backstroke, though her record would be subject to confirmation by FINA, world governing body of swimming.

Russia topped the medal tally with 42 gold, 29 silver and 29 bronze for a total of 100 medals, while China were close second, bagging 38 gold, 22 silver and 13 bronze for a total medal haul of 73.

Germany and Italy were far behind with seven gold each while Ukraine, Kenya and Uzbekistan followed with five gold each.

China"s Zhou Yafei and Russian Evgeny Lagunov won four gold each, all from the pool to share the tag of athlete with highest number of gold medal though Qatar"s Al Suwaidi Kheled and Jena Frederick Nguimbous of Cameroon bagged five medal with identical one gold, two silver and two bronze haul each.

India finished at 20th position in the medal tally with a total of 10 medal (2 gold, 1 silver, 7 bronze) which is much better than their performance in the last Games in 2003 in Catania (Italy) where they had won only one bronze.